Orioles can look at past results for motivation in White Sox series

The Baltimore Orioles have played a little more than a third of their games in the 2025 season. If the rest of the year imitates how the first two months went, it’ll be a long summer for the Baltimore faithful. 

The Orioles enter their final May series with a 19-36 record, the second-worst in the American League. They’ve won consecutive games three times, and their longest winning streak of the season is three games.

The good news is, Baltimore welcomes the Chicago White Sox to town this weekend. The White Sox own the worst record in the AL, although taking two out of three over the O’s would even the two clubs’ win totals. A sweep by Chicago would vault them past Baltimore.

Beating the White Sox has come easily for the Orioles in the past several years. Since 2022, the O’s are 15-5 against the White Sox. Baltimore scored at least six runs in half of those games. Seven of the 15 wins were by four runs or more.

This series could be the perfect spot for the Orioles’ lineup to break out. Baltimore is averaging 3.7 runs per game in May. That’s a slight improvement from its 3.5 mark in April, but nowhere near the standards the O’s established over the last two seasons. Looking at past results against the White Sox might boost the confidence in the Orioles’ clubhouse.

The teams met at a similar stage during the 2024 season with a three-game set in Chicago in late May. Baltimore had just been swept by the St. Louis Cardinals, but bounced back to take all four games against the White Sox. Following their series loss to the Cards earlier this week, the Orioles wouldn’t mind a little deja vu.

Orioles-White Sox game one start time changed due to weather

The series opener between the Orioles and White Sox has a new start time. The O’s announced that Friday’s game is moved up to a 4:30 p.m. ET start due to inclement weather in the forecast. First pitch was originally scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Zach Eflin will start for the O’s on Friday as he tries to bounce back from several uncharacteristic outings. He allowed 12 earned runs on 15 hits in his last two starts. Seven of those hits were home runs.

The rest of Baltimore’s rotation has started to turn a corner. Orioles starters outside of Eflin posted a 3.40 ERA in their last nine games. That stretch includes seven games in which Baltimore's starting pitcher allowed three or fewer runs. The Orioles still have the worst starters' ERA in the AL, but there's at least some hope that more quality outings are coming.

Everything clicked for the O’s when they played the White Sox last season. Perhaps a beatdown over Chicago will kick-start a turnaround for Baltimore as the calendar flips to June.

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